Inquisitorial Warhound Titan: Canis Nex

Warhound Scout Titan

I wanted to tie my Grey knight army and Warhound Titan together, giving it some background "Fluff" as to why they would be fighting alongside one another was the ideal thing. Below is a short background story to represent this, and how a Titan made it into the ranks of the Inquisition. When I finally get my Titan finished, it will be lightly embellished with Inquisitorial iconography, but not overpowering, you will have to look for it to see it.

At the end of the story I have also included my very own Inquisitorial Warhound Titan Datasheet, for use with Apocalypse games, please click on the link to download the PDF file. Feel free to print and use in your games. Remember this is my own fluff, enjoy.

Inquisitorial Warhound Titan: Canis Nex

What follows next are the events in which Canis Nex, (Dog of Death) a Mars Pattern Hyena Class Warhound Scout Titan formerly of Legio Astorum (The Warp Runners) came to pass!

For thousands of years Canis Nex has walked into battle, scouting ahead of the main battle groups hunting down enemy Zenos, Chaos, Traitors and Heretics, protecting the Imperium of mankind.

Although still bearing some colours and insignia of Legio Astorum, the Warhound Titan no longer serves with the legion it was born to, nor is it known or recognised by name or sight to the Imperium, or the Adeptus Mechanicus either, Canis Nex simply does not Exist.

During the siege of Vraks 813-830.M41, it is reported that twenty two Titans of Reaver and Warhound Class from Legio Astorum, were sent into battle to walk on Vraks against the Renegade Chaos forces.

This is where the truth has been altered with a little help from the Inquisition and the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars. Truth be told, Twenty Four Titans walked on Vraks in the original deployment, however Inquisitor Lord Hector Rex of the Ordo Malleus, Seconded two of the legions most veteran and Lethal Warhound Titans, Canis Nex and Canis Bellum (Dog of War) along with their crew, into the Inquisitorial Ranks.

They were assigned a secretive mission to outflank the main Chaos defences along with Hector Rex and Grey Knights from the 4^th Brotherhood. Their mission was to strike at the heart of a powerful and hidden battle group of over a thousand Chaos renegades, and a dangerously potent Chaos sorcerer that were shrouding a massive warp gate through which gigantic Bloodthirsters and Greater Daemons of Nurgle were being summoned. Already three had reportedly made the transition from the warp onto Vraks and if Knowledge of these abominations and the strength of this hidden force were to reach the rest of the Imperial troops, Throne only knows what panic and disruption might be caused.

The two Warhounds were ordered back to the legions landing ships for resupply, before re-joining the battle again, they had already seen a heavy share of battle and were reluctant to leave the advance so early but their techpriests took the time to make minor repairs along the way, healing the Machine Spirit within.

They did not arrive at their intended destination on the landing fields. Hector Rex had intercepted the Titans and informed the Crew of new orders. He requested that no one was to be informed of their participation and for the Mechanicum to amend their files accordingly to show that the Warhounds had been resupplied and send back to war in a different sector upon Vraks, knowledge of the secondment would be of upmost secrecy. The Warhounds new role was to support the Grey Knight strike force, providing super heavy fire power and armour, installing fear into the corrupted hearts of the Renegades.

The mission counted a heavy toll on the Grey Knights and the Warhounds both took severe punishment, but they fought with no sign of relent or hesitation. The battle was fast and furious with carnage all around, and only lasted a few days due to the immense fire power of the Warhounds and the highly thought out battle plan. Hector Rex took down a Bloodthirster on his own banishing it back to the warp by its real name and Brother Captain Valius along with a Paladin squad took down another one along with a putrid Greater Daemon of Nurgle. An Interceptor squad performed a dangerous high precision teleport shunt into the swirling chaos of warp energy, near the gate and assassinated the Chaos Sorcerer where he stood, forcing shut the warp gate in mere moments.

But just before the portal shut, Canis Bellum was wrenched into the warp gate, by what can only be described by the surviving Grey Knights as a hand of gargantuan proportion, some Daemon of untold size! What Canis Bellum’s fate was remains a mystery to this day. Canis Nex seeing this disastrous event occur raged with anger and struck at the renegades with new unbound frenzy, massacring hundreds of renegades with blast after blast of raw destructive firepower, the Machine Spirit was mourning with the loss of Canis Bellum.

The strike force had won after only a couple more hours of fighting, a few renegades had managed to flee in the mayhem but the Sorcerer was slain, the Bloodthirsters and Greater Daemons of Nurgle Slaughtered in battle and those that were not defeated were drawn back into the warp when the Portal was closed.

Two days were spent clearing the surrounding area and fortifications weeding out pockets of the enemy. The remaining Grey Knight strike force were clearing the last few buildings near to the sorcerer’s vile tainted remains and Hector Rex was debriefing the Warhound and crew when all of a sudden the air went cold and still, the Grey Knights all felt a disturbance in the atmosphere. As quick as the air changed, the sorcerer’s body was elevated high into the night sky with his chest bursting open with strobes of light, the daemon inside had led dormant but survived the sorcerers death and with one last gesture to its gods opened a warp rift onto a daemon world.

At that point hundreds of daemons poured out of the rift engulfing the whole area in a screaming whirl of daemonic chaos. Hector Rex and the remaining Grey Knight reformed and battled the daemons with psychic power and force weapons, Canis Nex however was all but consumed by the ravaging daemons, lost in a tsunami of furies and screamers, not being equipped to deal with such horrors. Brother Captain Valius looked over to see if the Warhound could offer aid and throw fire into the rift, but the great machine was lost. Unbeknown to the Grey Knights, but yet foreseen by Hector Rex, the Warhounds commander, Princeps Mardon had become psychic aware during the past few decades of continuously fighting Chaos and Heretics even without his own knowledge or awareness and without thinking had raise a psychic barrier around the titan and crew forcing the daemonic furies to scream with pain before they could strike at the souls within.

Through the MIU (Mind Impulse Unit) Princeps Mardon had fully linked with the Machine Spirit of Canis Nex, passing on the psychic barrier into the very core of the machine, taking full control and becoming the Titan incarnate. The void shields started to collapsed under the sheer weight of the onslaught, but before more structural damage occurred, Princeps Mardon turned ran at full stride out onto the plains. Believing that they had possessed or corrupted the titan and its crew, only a few daemons followed to chase it down with the remainder consisting of hundreds of furies turned to unleash hell on the Grey Knights.Brother Captain Valius voxed Hector Rex with little hope that they would be victorious against such an onslaught, but Hector told him to hold at all cost as aid will come in a surprising corner.

After falling back for about a mile Canis Nex Halted, turned and fired upon the advancing daemons with no respite. Madon growled with anger as the Machine and his mind fused as one. The rest of the crew could not believe the events that had taken place; they should be dead or worse possessed by Chaos. The Princeps asked for their trust and if they were with him, ready to take the fight onto a new level, the crew acknowledged with a new sense of purpose. With the crew now eager to follow their Princeps, Canis Nex walked once more into hell. At full stride with all power diverted to the engine room, the Titan made record time across the plains towards an unknown fate that awaited them, even if destroyed with an apocalyptic explosion, at least that would seal the rift

.

Hector Rex, Brother Captain Valius and around eighteen Grey Knights remained. But as they fought with unyielding vigour knowing that they were moments away from seeing the bright lights of the Golden Gates of Terra in a glorious death, Hector Rex Voxed the Grey Knights with a stern command to seek cover and look to the plains. At that moment Princeps Mardon order his Moderati to rain hell upon the Chaos until the skies were lit with fire. Again without thinking he raised a psychic shield around his crew and took to the fight, the end of the Warhounds weapons glowed white hot as unrelenting fire was poured into the demonic hoard, Princeps Mardon reeled in pain along with the Machine spirit as they took damage from bloodletters and Daemonettes on the ground and screamers in the air. But all was not lost; the Warhounds Techpriest was working without rest and managed to raise a single void shield deflecting some of the onslaught at the cost of his own auxiliary power supply. The Grey Knights and Hector Rex kept in cover whilst the fire storm erupted around them, for nearly twenty minutes Canis Nex fired and crushed the Daemon host until their numbers dwindled to less than a hundred furies, sensing the battle was closing to an end, the Grey Knights rose from their cover and charged the remaining ground forces back into the warp, with Brother Captain Valius chanting binding words of old text closing the rift with a crack of light and a sound of a thunder clap.

All went silent and still, Hector Rex and the Grey Knights looked at the Warhound their saviour in time of need. As the dust settled around them they could see the toll which the Titan had taken for its deed. Canis Nex was on the verge of a wreck, its right Plasma Blast Gun all but molten metal after the Plasma coils overheated during the continuous fire, the head limp with a two meter gash of twisted metal on the top from where daemons tried to break in, both legs barely able to carry the bodies weight as they had been ripped apart by the bloodletters and Daemonettes frenzy. Thick black smoke billowed from the engine room where screamers and furies had repeatedly hammered at the unprotected and weak rear defences, breaching the titan’s hull. Canis Nex was in ruins.

Valius sent a vox to the Titans crew several times with little hope of response. But to the dismay of the Brother Captain the mighty machine answered. The entire crew although substantially injured had all survived, including the heart of the Titan itself, the Machine Spirit was untainted, protected from corruption by Princeps Mardon via the MIU. Hector Rex immediately ordered the Grey knights Tech priests and a special unit of Adeptus Mechanicus Engineseers from Legio Astorum to rebuild Canis Nex with no holds barred as a reward for the Bravery and stalwart of the crew and the pure might of the Machine Spirit.

After nearly a year led dormant on the Grey Knights own Forge world, Canis Nex was once again ready to walk to battle, rebuilt to the highest standards of the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars, with all the resources available to the Inquisition. The Titan crew were sent for psychic analysis and Princeps mardon rated with a psychic mastery level. Canis Nex Itself was upgraded with Reinforced Aegis Armour plating and Psybolt and from the Grey Knights vast arsenal.

From the very moment they were transported from Vraks, the Inquisition made the decision to keep the Unusual Warhound Titan and Intriguing crew in the service of the Inquisition and Grey Knights of Titan for Super Heavy support, when and where needed. The Imperial forces on Vraks were subject to Inquisitorial mind wipe after the war ended as per the usual procedure of the Inquisition and Grey Knights, and all information regarding Canis Nex and Canis Bellum’s existence was sequestered by the highest order from Mars, Terra and Titan.

To date Canis Nex has fought in countless battles alongside the Inquisition and Grey Knights, upon Thousands of battle fields across the galaxy, and is honoured with the most advanced equipment of the Adeptus Mechanicus, forever searching for its Sister Titan, the lost Canis Bellum.

Imperial records of the two Warhounds no longer exist and their names are all but forgotten, only a select few will ever know the truth. Canis Nex the Dog of Death and Canis Bellum the Dog of War, are ghosts, for they do not, and have never been, in existence, just a myth on the tongues of past.

~ Honour the Imperium of Mankind ~


Below is a link to the Inquisitorial Warhound Titan Datasheet. Please feel free to download and print the PDF file to use in your games.

Download
'Inquisitorial Warhound Titan Datasheet'

Any questions or comments are welcome as usual.